Our Past Is Present
by BluePoisonAura
Summary: A Native American teen is left with the option to live with her distance cousin after the death of her family with no one else to care for her. After moving in with her new caretaker she soon faced with dealing with the punches as she gets to know these many new people, making many friends and enemies.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, I hope you like this. This is my first fic, so please be gentle. But anyways. The **bold** is going to used through out the story to show that my OC is speaking Ojibwe. (a.k.a Native American) I would translate it but sadly I cant speak my language. :( Anyways, enough with me talking.

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Chapter 1:

Fire is a thing of beauty and grace. It provides warmth, and light; however it also provides harm and death. Its colours are hypnotic and alluring. The way it dances draws attention to it and never let's go of whoever it has entranced. It intrigues the viewer and has them on their feet from just watching it.

This is how my family and my life was easily taken from me, captured by the fire and swallowed whole.

_~~flashback~~_

"_**Hey, Josh, can you wake up your sister? We are almost at the airport."**__ My mother called from the front seat._

_It was the beginning of summer and we were travelling to visit my relatives somewhere in America for a family reunion._

_I felt my brother poking my face, trying to wake me up._

_I slapped his hand away from my face as I started to open my eyes, pulling my ear buds out of my ears._

"_**What?" **__I growled, my favourite song had just started playing, inspiring me, and I was currently thinking out the details of the idea._

"_**We're nearly at the airport." **__Josh replied._

"_**Idiot. You didn't have to wake me when we still have twenty minutes 'til we even reach the airport parking lot."**__ I glared at him, "__**You made me lose an inspiration that would be perfect for a painting."**_

_My brother Josh always makes it his job to annoy me every day. He is older than me by two minutes, that's right, we're twins. Despite that, Josh and I completely different, he is a lacrosse player and I am an artist and dancer. Well so is my brother, well actually he _was_ until he decided that it wasn't cool to be a dancer. My family is made of First Nations, well most of us are. My mom married a non-Native guy when Josh and I were ten, but that was six years ago, now we all get along and he respects our heritage. _

_I used to be a fancy shawl dancer and Josh used to be a men`s fancy dancer. We would sometimes go into competitions when we were 13 and 14, and often go to traditional Pow-wows._

_My brother just looked at me with a blank look before turning back to mom and said, __**"Mom, sis just called me an idiot." **_

"_**What? He woke me up when we still have time to get there." **__I replied. I stretched my arms and fixed a barrette that was in my French braid. My hair reached half-way down my back; my family consists of brunettes and tanned skin._

"_Arizona! You need to stop calling your brother rude names." My mom said to me._

"_Your mom's right darling. It's not nice to be rude to your brother, you two need to get along." My dad said looking at me through the rear-view mirror._

"_**Dad keep your eyes on the road. Don't want us getting into car accident do you?" **__I smirked looking out of the van window in the back._

"_**Oh come on, dads not that bad of a driver. At least he's better than you." **__Josh retorted before turning back around in his seat._

"_**Yeah but I'm way better than you, who just barely passed the drivers coarse." **__I grinned._

_I heard my brother growl and could tell he was glaring at me._

"_Oh honey, turn left at this light ahead." My mom said pointing directions for dad to follow._

"_Don't worry I know."_

_Dad was turning the car when the green light came on._

_Right when we were turning I heard mom scream __**"Look out!' **__before we collided head on with a speeding truck._

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So...what did you think? Review please? And I'll try to post next one soon as I can. Laters!~


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys, sorry for not updating for a while. Work sorta just decided to dog piled me. Any ways I decided to give you guys two chapters in hopes that you will forgive my stupidity of not give you more to read. Any ways, on with the new chapters.

Disclaimer: I **DO NOT** own Hetalia or any of its characters, nor do I make any money from these chapters. Any who. Please read and maybe leave a review?

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Chapter 2:

"Arizona? Arizona can you hear me?" I heard a unfamilar female voice call out to me.

I hesitantly began to open my eyes, only to be blinded as I shut them once more.

"**Too…bright…" **I muttered quietly.

"Pardon?" the woman asked again

I pointed at the windows repeating myself in english, "Too...bright.." my voice turning hoarse as I cleared my throat.

"Close the blinds." I heard a gentle male voice say.

Once I saw that it was darker I opened my eyes again. It was still bright but not as bright as it was a moment ago.

I then took a quick look around and…I had no idea where I was.

"Where am I? Who are you?" I asked the woman slowly taking my time with my words, my English at the moment was not as good as it usually is especially after waking up.

"You're in the hospital dear. You arrived two days ago, you got into a car crash on the way to the airport." I nurse answered standing close to me.

I took a quick look at my surroundings and noticed that by the door stood a man with blonde hair and a big curl in front of his face sporting a pair of thin black glasses.

"Pardon? What car crash? I don't remember getting into a car crash." I muttered.

"It's possible that you may have some memory loss from the impact of the car or it could be that your mind is trying to block it out."

"What's your name?" The man at the door asked.

"Arizona."

"Full name?'

"Arizona Mae Walker."

"How old are you?"

"16."

"Good. At least you remember this much." The nurse says as she writes a quick note before leaving saying she was going to grab me some food from the cafeteria.

"Your name. You didn't say what it is." I said to the man who moved from the door to seat in one of the chairs in the room.

"My name is Matthew Williams. When you are able to leave the hospital you are going to live with me at my place." He answered quietly.

"Why do I have to live with you? Why can't I still live with my family?" I asked confused

"Arizona, your parents and your brother…died from the crash. Your parents were crushed in the front seats; your brother was helping you out of the car. He lost a lot of blood and died in the hospital sometime later. You were saved because you sat in the back of the van, the furthest from the impact." Matthew answered.

"Liar." That's not possible. He must be lying, there is no way my parents are careless at driving. There is no way we could ever get into a car crash.

"It's the truth." He answered his voice cracking.

"You're lying! **You're a liar! **There is no way my parents would get us into a car accident! **You're lying!**"I screamed tears threatening to fall, flipping my feet off the bed.

I managed to take one step before losing my balance and falling onto my hands and knees.

"Arizona!" Matthew said as he jumped up to help me stand.

"You need to be careful. You've been asleep for two days; you muscles will be a little tired." He said calmly sitting me back down onto the hospital bed.

I looked at my legs and arms and noticed some small burns on my arms. But there were some longer burns on my legs.

"Don't worry, their mostly first degree burns. Some are second degree but none are third degree." He said smiling faintly.

I heard a knock on the door as it opened to show the nurse who was in here a while ago. She carried in a tray that was covered by a lid.

"I hope you're hungry. For lunch we have some chicken and rice soup... Or would you prefer some breakfast?" she asked placing the tray on the swinging table attached to the bed she put up.

She then lifted up the lid to show a bowl of soup and a plate with two slices of French toast, two eggs and two slices of bacon.

"B-breakfast please." I stuttered.

She smiled and asked if Matthew wanted the soup, who happily took the bowl and thanked her as she left once again with the tray leaving us to eat.

Once I was finished my plate I placed my fork and knife on the plate and set it aside.

"…When do I get out?" I asked the man who had just finished the bowl of soup.

"I asked them earlier when you were asleep, it seems like you get leave in a couple of days or sooner if your tests turn out pretty well." He said standing up to grab my plate and stack the dishes for when the nurse comes back.

"Why can't I stay with another relative?" I asked looking at my folded hands in my lap.

"Most of them don't have the money or space to take you in." he replied as he sat back down in the chair.

"Ok. I'll stay with you. It seems as though I have no other option." I sighed covering my eyes with one arm as a small tear made its way down my cheek.

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So? Did you like it? Hope you did. Anyways, just a reminder that **bolded** words/sentences mean that Arizona is speaking in Ojibwe, like I said before I would translate the sentences into my language but I don't know it due to some stupid past principle that banned stuff related to our heritage...and some of the words are really, really long. I mean the word 'pie' is super long, biitoojiishkwegnigan, a 3 letter word turns out to be a 20 letter word translated. Any ways catch you all later.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey, like I mentioned before in the last chapter I'm sorry for not posting the new one, but here you go, another chapter. Please review, it really helps a lot and gives me motivation to continue on.

Disclaimer: I **DO NOT** own Hetalia or its characters, nor do I own any of the songs mentioned in the chapter or make money off of these chapters. And reminder, **bolded** words/sentences means Arizona is speaking in Ojibwe.

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Chapter 3:

After two days I was finally released from the hospital. Due to my stubbornness I was allowed to leave early because I was so set on getting through my rehabilitation quickly. Even when I was in my room I would secretly work on strengthening my legs so I could walk better.

However the doctors in the hospital recommended I use the crutches just in case.

I refused at first but took them just to make them happy; I even used them to get to the car when Matthew came to pick me up. Matthew explained to how all my things back at my old house have been moved to Matthews's house to the room that was prepared for me.

I asked Matthew about his house and he told me that it was in the forest nearby; it was a two-story house with a completed basement. It was a three bedroom house, his room, a guest room and the other was used as his office.

Put in my ear buds and played some Evanescence as I closed my eyes to rest before we arrived at the house.

Sometime after I felt my body begin to shake.

"**Ngh…let me sleep…" **I muttered.

"Arizona. We're here." Matthew said as he shook me once more lightly. I heard the crunch of stones under his feet as he opens the backseat door of his black Jeep Sahara Wrangler to grab my crutches.

I sighed as I sat up from my laid back seat pulling out my ear buds.

I blinked as I saw the size of the house. It was a big dark wooden house, like a big cottage. There was a second story patio in the front. The garden in front of the house had cedar shrubs, when the wind breezed by my nose caught a faint smell of sweet grass nearby.

"Do you still need these?" Matthew asked gentle holding the crutches in his hands.

"Just one." I said moving my hands to speak, sign language was my third language since sometimes I would hate speaking in english during school, so I was taught ASL for school.

"Um, can you repeat yourself" Matthew said looking at me confused.

I rolled my eyes and just used my index finger to count one.

"Bezhiig, Niis, Nswi." I said counting to three with my fingers.

It took him a second to understand what I was saying before he nodded his head and handed me one of the crutches.

"Miigwetch." I said smiling, grabbing one from his hand as I used it to help support me as both of us walked up the front porch and into his house.

The hallway by the door was a decent size, it wasn't too small.

The floor was a dark coloured hardwood.. We walked past the hallway after taking of our shoes and proceeded into the living room. It was a huge space, and there was a large gap in the second story floor to make an opening to let light in from the windows in the roof. The kitchen was not too far and from where I was sitting in the living room on the couch, it seemed the kitchen was combined with the dining room.

The kitchen was painted a smokey grey with a snowflake obsidian marble counter tops on both the counters and kitchen island in the center of the room. All the kitchen appliances were silver stainless steel, with cabinets and frosted glass windows in the doors.

"Wow, such a nice big house for one person." I said as I looked up at the visible second floor from the living room.

"Well I didn't entirely choose this house. This house was provided for me from my job." I heard Matthew say from the kitchen. He then came back into the living room with two cups of iced tea.

"So I asked if I could have a house that was not too big since I obviously live alone, some other countries have other people living with them so the big houses fit perfectly." He said taking a sip from his cup.

I nodded silently as I followed his gesture of taking a drink from the cup he had given to me moments ago.

The silence only lasted for about a few seconds before it was broken by an echoing of a door bell. Matthew placed his cup on the coffee table before standing up to open the door for the guest.

I heard a loud voice come from the hallway, "Hey dude! What took you so long?"

I heard Matthews voice replying however he was so low I could barely hear anything.

I heard steps begin to approach the living room.

"Who's this? I didn't know you had a kid." The loud blonde man said walking into the room, he was wearing a dark brown leather jacket, and both tan pants and shirt finished with leather boots. His short blonde hair shined in the sun's rays, and his blue eyes gleamed through his glasses.

"What!?" I yelled as I stood up, "Do I look like him? No."

"Arizona don't." Matthew said as he stepped in between me and the blonde, "This is my brother Alfred, Alfred this is Arizona. She is a distant relative that I am taking care off since her family died in a car crash."

"Oh, sorry dude didn't mean to offend you." Alfred apologized

"**Idiot**" I mumbled under breathe as I flopped back onto the couch sighing.

"So what happened?" Alfred asked as he sat at the other end of the couch while Matthew sat in a chair on the other side of the coffee table.

"Ask him, I don't remember." I said as I leaned forward to take a sip from my glass of iced tea as Alfred turned to Matthew.

"She doesn't remember probably from the impact of the crash or her brain is blocking it out. Her family was traveling to the airport when they met head on with a truck. Her parents were crushed and her brother bled to death and died later in the hospital. She was saved since she was sitting in the back of the van." Matthew explained.

"So now I'm staying with Matthew because my other relatives are unable to take me because they don't have enough space or money." I said plainly placing my empty glass on the coffee table.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that." Alfred said his eyes darkening a bit.

"It's ok. I don't remember much about it so it doesn't affect me much, the way I know it ever happened is by these scars." I smiled faintly showing the burns on my forearms and legs, "But can you both do me a favour and lets not talk about this again? Please?"

After I saw his eyes gaze over them and glance away nodding his head I covered them again. I then stood up and said I was going to the kitchen to get a drink of water.

After I took a sip and left my glass at the edge of the sink and slowly walked back into the living room.

"Hey Matthew can I go onto the back patio?" I asked as I stood at the edge of the kitchen leaning on the wall.

"Pardon? Oh, yes you can go outside." Matthew answered

"Hey are you guys' hungry? We can have a barbeque outside." Alfred said standing up.

"Sure." I mumbled, "If it's fine with Matthew." Both of us glanced at Matthew.

He agreed with Alfred who was already in the kitchen starting to prepare for the meal, Matthew than followed Alfred into the kitchen to help his brother.

I decided it would be good to go outside and get a breath of fresh air. I opened the sliding door that led to the back patio by the dining room.

The patio, like most of the house, was made of dark brown wood. The grill was along the wall of the house with a patio table made of glass pushed up against the railing of the deck.

I looked past the patio and into the forest behind his house; we still seemed to be in Ontario from what it looked like to me. I could see birch, oak, maple trees in the forest mixed with others I could not recognize at the moment. He did however also have some cedar trees in his backyard just like his garden in the front.

I gently placed the unneeded crutch on the table before I started to make my way down the patio steps onto the ground. I sat on the bottom step before I started to untie my shoes and take them off followed by my socks. I set my shoes on the top step before I stood up and started to walk around the back yard.

I closed my eyes sighing in delight as the pads of my feet felt the softness of the grass and the roughness of the earth.

I turned around to meet both Matthew and Alfred when I heard the opening and closing of the door leading to the house.

I started to lightly jog up to the patio to relieve Matthew of some of the items he was holding. Grabbing the plates from him I started to place them around the glass table, while Matthew was placing the corn and salad on the table Alfred was throwing some burgers on the grill.

"Hey Arizona do you want some cheese on your burger?" Alfred asked me looking over his shoulder at me.

"**No thanks. I like homemade hamburgers better.**" I said, after realizing what I just said I gasped.

"Dude what was that?" Alfred said chuckling.

"Sorry. I said no thanks and that I like homemade hamburgers better. I don't really like premade hamburgers." I said apologizing, "It's a habit I have from when I lived with my family. Since I'm Ojibwe and I would talk in my language around my mom and brother because we all knew the language."

"That's cool dude. Would you be able to teach me?" Alfred laughed

"Sorry, I've been speaking since I was little and I'm not that good of a teacher." I said siting down on the top of the steps sideways to see both them and the forest.

After Alfred finished cooking the hamburgers we all sat down at the table and made out plates. After I had made my plate I quietly said a little prayer before I took a bite of my food. Since I refused to eat the premade hamburgers I had mostly salad and corn.

After we all finished we headed inside after we cleaned up the patio table. Matthew caught me yawning while we were putting the dishes into the dishwasher he had in the kitchen, he gently told me I should go to bed and that my bedroom was two away from his at the end of the hall on the second floor.

I thanked him and said my good nights to both him and Alfred as I started to make my way up the stairs. Once I reached the end of the hall I heard a distant rumbling of an oncoming storm.

I sighed as I opened the door to my room that was prepared for me while I was in the hospital. My bed was close to the window on the far side that gave me a view a bit of the forest and the drive way. My dresser was up against the wall by the closet, on the other side of the room I had a desk that already had my laptop on it. The walls of the room where a turquoise colour while the blankets on the bed where a mix of blue and a green. I walked over to the desk with my laptop on it and turned it on to play my playlist that I listened to when I go to bed.

I laid down in the bed before gently falling to sleep to Linkin Parks Castle of Glass with the rain pattering against the window outside in the background.

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Well that's the end of chapter two. Hope you all liked it, and it would mean a lot if you reviewed. And if any have any ideas for some future chapters I would love to hear them, I'm not judgemental, I'm pretty opened minded. Well so you all soon! Baamapii!~ ^.^

Translation Note:

Miigwetch = Thank you

Baamapii = See you later


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